Road shortage key reason of traffic jams

Lack of road coverage, illegal rickshaws, private cars, road and footpath occupation, and 27 level crossings are the main reasons behind traffic congestion in Dhaka city, a top police official said yesterday.

Whereas a city needs 25 percent of its space covered by roads, in Dhaka city road coverage is only 1 percent, said Imtiaz Ahmed, deputy commissioner (traffic-west) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police at the inauguration of a two-month campaign on "advocacy for social change and road safety" of Advocacy for Social Change unit of Brac in the capital.

The police official also blamed disregard to traffic rules and jaywalking for traffic jams and road accidents in the city.

He said that according to the BRTA, Dhaka city had nine lakh registered vehicles, while its roads had the capacity to deal with only 1 to 1.25 lakh vehicles.

Moreover, between April and July this year, 26,000 vehicles got registered newly in the city, he added.

Citing a study, Imtiaz said buses made up 35 percent of the city traffic and private cars 25 percent while their shares should be 45 percent and 15 percent respectively.

As a remedial measure, he recommended reducing rickshaws. There are 7-8 lakh rickshaws plying Dhaka city roads but only 80,000 of them are legal, he said.

According to him, every day vehicular movement remains halted for 11 hours due to 27 level crossings in the capital with 45 trains passing them daily.

Imtiaz, therefore, called for building more overpasses at the level crossings so that road transports do not stop moving while trains pass the crossings.

Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Annisul Huq, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Ilias Kanchan, chairman of Nirapad Sarak Chai, and KAM Morshed, director of the Advocacy for Social Change unit of Brac also spoke.